The Nevada Sagebrush

Missouri wide receiver Danario Alexander, middle, torched Nevada with 170 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers 31-21 over Nevada on Friday at Mackay Stadium. Photo by Casey Durkin/The Nevada Sagebrush

Luke Lippincott was four yards away from potentially tying Nevada’s game on Friday against No. 21 Missouri.

Lippincott, a sixth-year running back for the Wolf Pack, took a handoff from quarterback Colin Kaepernick and darted up the middle with Nevada trailing 21-13.

Lippincott was hit hard by Tigers defensive lineman Aldon Smith and fumbled. The loose ball was recovered by Missouri.

That turnover proved to be the changing point in the game. After the Tigers recovered the ball on their own three-yard line, the Missouri offense drove down the field and scored a touchdown on a four-yard pass from quarterback Blaine Gabbert to wide receiver Jared Perry. The score put the Tigers up 28-13 and, despite a late touchdown from Nevada (0-3), Missouri (4-0) won 31-21.

After the game, Lippincott’s blunder was protected by his teammates.

“I would go to war for Luke any day,” Kaepernick said. “You can’t say enough about what he’s done for this program and what he’s done for this team. He was trying his hardest to get in the end zone.

While Lippincott was defended after the game by his teammates and head coach Chris Ault, who said “Luke’s as good a player as you’re going to find”, Lippincott did not have much to say about his mishap

“It was just a fumble,” said a frustrated Lippincott.

But the fumble was just one of many errors committed by the Wolf Pack.

Over the course of the game, Nevada racked up nine penalties and lost two fumbles. The first fumble came on the Wolf Pack’s first shot at an offensive series.

After Nevada’s defense forced the Missouri offense into a three-and-out on their first series, Vai Taua fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The punt hung high in the air and Taua looked uncomfortable as the ball approached him. The ball tipped off of his fingers and was recovered by Missouri linebacker Andrew Gachkar

On the muffed punt, Taua hurt his right arm and did not come back in. After the game, Ault said Taua dislocated his right elbow and he did not know how long the junior running back was going to be out.

Unlike its other games, Nevada did not have to play catch up for most of the game.

Missouri got on the board first with a 22-yard field goal by kicker Grant Ressel after an 11-play, 46-yard drive.

But, the Wolf Pack struck back on its next possession, showing this game would not be a blowout as so many had predicted.

After a 13-play, 80-yard drive, Nevada running back Courtney Randall capped off the series with a two-yard touchdown plunge, giving the Wolf Pack a 7-3 lead — its first lead of the season and the first time Nevada scored in the first half of a game this year.

After another Ressel field goal, Nevada held a 7-6 lead, but Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert found 6-foot-5 wide receiver Danario Alexander for a 31-yard touchdown pass.

After playing a gritty first half, Nevada came out in the second half with even more fire.

Wolf Pack kickoff returner Mike Ball returned the second half’s opening kickoff 52 yards to the Tigers’ 48-yard line, which led to an easy scoring drive for Nevada.

The offense drove the ball deep into Missouri territory before Kaepernick scored on an 11-yard scamper.

After the score, Nevada led 13-12, but its lead did not last long. Missouri needed just two plays to score on a 74-yard touchdown pass from Gabbert to wide receiver Danario Alexander.

With the 18-13 lead, the Tigers offense got on a roll, scoring 13 more unanswered points.

Despite the 31-21 final score, Kaepernick, was happy with the way the team performed.

“I think from last week to this week, we’ve improved greatly with our play,” he said.

The Wolf Pack will try to get its first win of the season on Oct. 3 against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2-1).

KEY STATS:

NEVADA:

QB Colin Kaepernick: 17-of-28, 146 yards, one touchdown

RB Luke Lippincott: 23 rushes, 114 yards

WR Brandon Wimberly: six catches, 76 yards, one touchdown

LB Sean Weatherspoon: nine tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss

MISSOURI:

QB Blaine Gabbert: 25-of-40, 414 yards, three touchdowns

RB Derrick Washington: 16 rushes, 75 yards

WR Danario Alexander: nine catches, 170 yards, two touchdowns.

LB Brandon Marshall: eight tackles, three tackles for loss

Click here for a quick summary of the game.

Juan López can be reached at jlopez@nevadasagebrush.com.

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